Je poursuis mon exploration de l’œuvre de Joe Sacco, en changeant de continent puisqu’il s’agit de cette fameuse guerre qui s’est déroulée à notre porte, pas celle qui est en ce moment à notre porte, celle d’avant, celle de l’ex-Yougoslavie. Mais cet opus m’a hélas moins convaincue que mes précédentes lectures. Peut-être à cause de l’angle : ici il est question d’un seul personnage, et c’est sa vision de la guerre que l’on voit, alors que j’avais beaucoup apprécié le caractère polyphonique des précédents reportages bd que j’avais lus. Et puis il faut avouer que je me suis laissée tromper par le titre : je m’attendais à une réflexion sur le rôle du fixer dans le journalisme, et en particulier le journalisme de guerre, d’autant que l’on voit l’importance de son rôle par exemple dans [Gaza 1956]. Mais il n’en est rien. Neven, le personnage dont il est question, est effectivement fixer(entre autres choses), mais la façon dont il exerce cette activité n’est jamais véritablement évoquée dans le livre.
C’est donc une sorte d’interview en bd, entremêlée de considérations sur l’étrange relation (qualifiée d’amicale par Joe Sacco, mais qui parfois confine à l’extorsion) entre le témoin et son interlocuteur. Pas inintéressant, certes, mais pas aussi prenant que les autres reportages que j’ai pu lire de Joe Sacco.

Another tale from the former Yugoslavia by Joe Sacco. I enjoyed this a lot - a good comic. The book focuses on Neven, a "fixer" for international visitors (mostly journalists) who need someone to show them the ropes of Sarajevo. Through Neven, it tells the story of Sarajevo in the Yugoslavian war - the sieges and the internal struggles. One thing it does really well is show the relationship between the unofficial paramilitary groups and the Bosnian government - naturally, it's a pretty ugly story.

Some of Sacco's writing seemed a little off here - too much talking to the reader as if they were Neven. Felt a bit disorienting, but not in they way that might have worked. Also the jumping around in time seemed a little gratuitous at times. Still, another wonderfully drawn, powerful book by Sacco. ( )

Joe Sacco, for those of you who don’t know his work, is a journalist working with the graphic novel as a form. The result is powerful, a combination of the autenhicity of the news story with the immediability of comics. His massive work ”Safe area Gorazde” taught me more about the coflict in former Yugoslavia than anything i’ve ever read.

This is a story on a much smaller scale. It is the last shaky days of the Bosnian war when Sacco arrives in Sarajevo. Most of the international press is long since gone, and when Sacco meets the ”fixer” Neven in a hotel lobby, he is long out of work. A fixer is a local who takes care of foriegn reporters, arranges meetings and interviews, acts as guide, translator and bodyguard. Sacco and Neven strikes up a friendship, of sorts, and this book is a portrait of a complex person, a complex place and a complex time. Through Neven’s stories we learn about the early days of the siege of Sarajevo, when local gangsters were the quickest to take up arms against the invading sebs. Larger than life, blokes like Juka, Caco and Celo and their militias were crucial for the defence of the city, but very soon became a liability as soon as regular Bosnian forces were formed.

Neven is a very unreliable narrator, and the story we get here is subjective, contradictory, and sometimes likely false. Sacco’s portrait of him is vividly painted, as is his own ambivalence towards him. The concept of documentary graphic novel is very appealing, with the sense of place coming across very strongly. Again, this is a book that make me feel wiser. ( )

Have you ever wondered how journalists get such up close and personal information about foreign affairs? How they get behind enemy lines to get the real scoop? This is the story of Neven, the sketchy Serbian "fixer" who, for a price, can be hired to take war correspondents behind the scenes. Joe Sacco befriends this fixer, Neven. Sacco tells his story in a short graphic "novella," bouncing back and forth between the early 1990s and 2001 to bring to light the Balkan conflict. Neven helps Sacco paint a grim picture of the bloodthirsty warlords who ran the country and how the Bosnia government responded. Even though Neven was a mastermind at manipulating Sacco (and his wallet) they developed a friendship. ( )

I'm overdosing on war stories lately and I'm not sure what it is doing to my mind. I need to read some more Sacco though. This stuff is great. ( )